Pizza

I have been on a homemade pizza kick lately. Once you get the hang of making your own pizza dough it becomes an easy, affordable, and delicious meal to make at home. Making your own dough is especially easy when you can use a electric stand mixer like the Kitchen Aid my wife got for Christmas this year. Here is the basic pizza dough recipe that I use.

Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast ( or 2-1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2-1/2 -3-1/2 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a warmed mixer bowl. Add salt, sugar, olive oil, and 2-1/2 cups of flour. Mix on low speed using dough hook attachment for 1-2 minutes.
Allow the mixture to rest for 15-20 minutes before adding additional flour.
Continue to mix on low speed adding the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture starts to clean the sides of the bowl and stick to the dough hook. Continue to knead on low speed for 2 minutes more.

Place the dough in a bowl greased with olive oil, turning to grease the top of the dough as well. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. The dough can also be placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours for future use. This recipe makes enough dough to make 2-14" pizzas.

To make one pizza, half of the finished dough gets turned out onto a floured surface and made into your desired pizza style. For my first pizza I was going for a very thin and crispy crust so I just worked pressing down from the center to the edges until it was about the size of the pizza peel that I was working with. Using this method will press some of the air out of the dough and allow you to get a think and crispy texture. I put the dough onto a pizza peel that is dusted with corn meal before beginning the topping process. The corn meal is needed in order to allow your finished pizza to slide on and off of your pizza baking stone. Another option is hand tossing the crust which will give you a thicker airy crust with a little more body to it.

A pan pizza is also easy to make if you have a cast iron skillet. Grease the pan with several tablespoons of vegetable oil and pat your dough into the pan to spread out the dough and bring edges all the way up the sides of the pan. Baking will take a few minutes longer than normal because the pan is not been pre-heated prior to baking.

Assembly

Instead of a traditional pizza sauce, I roasted fresh chopped garlic in olive oil and used that as the spread for the pizza. The dough was then sprinkled with a little dried oregano and the toppings were added.

Roasted chicken, mushrooms, red onion, fresh tomato, and parmesan and mozzarella cheeses were added.

These pizzas were baked on a pre-heated pizza stone at 475 degrees for about 12 minutes.For the second pizza I hand tossed the crust to maintain the round shape and it was topped with spinach, mushrooms, grilled chicken, and roasted rosemary potatoes.

Homemade Egg Noodles

With cold and flu season upon us, there is likely to be homemade chicken soup in your future. The best accompaniment with chicken soup is some nice thick egg noodles. They are very easy to make and turn your soup into the ultimate comfort food.

Start by making a mound on a clean surface consisting of 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix the dry ingredients well and make a well in the center of the mixture. To the well add 2 whole eggs and 3 tablespoons of water. Scramble the eggs with a fork gradually working the eggs into the flour. Bring the mix together with your hands and knead for a few minutes until it all comes together as a workable dough. You may need to add a few more tablespoons of water to make this possible depending on conditions. Move the dough to a floured surface and roll out to your desired thickness. I rolled my batch out to about 1/8" thick. We like our noodles a little thicker, almost on the verge of being a dumpling. Keep in mind that the noodles are going to just about double in size when they are cooked. Slice your dough with a pizza cutter into your desired width of noodle. Drop the noodles into boiling broth or soup and cover to let simmer for about 8-10 minutes until they are done. The end product will blow away any store bought noodles, and its a great way to add a little comfort to your meal.

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

With summer upon us there are so many great light appetizers that can be made while we are getting the grill ready for the main course. One of my favorites is a lettuce wrap that is filled with grilled marinated chicken, fresh veggies, and topped with a spicy peanut sauce.

This basic recipe would work with 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts. A good portion is to start with 1/2 a boneless skinless chicken breast per person. After a quick wash and trim I marinate the chicken for a least an hour in a mixture of 1 can coconut milk, 1/4 cup teriyaki marinade (substitution would be 1/3 cup soy sauce and 2 tablespoons brown sugar), the zest and juice of one lime, two cloves crushed garlic, 4 tablespoons sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds.

While the chicken is marinating you can prepare the spicy peanut sauce which will be the dressing for the lettuce wraps.

1 cup fresh smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hot water

4 cloves garlic, finely minced and mashed 2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the ingredients well and set aside. After allowing the sauce to rest for a few minutes, taste for seasoning. You may want to add more cayenne pepper for spice for may need to add a little more water to reach the desired consistency. A good consistency for this sauce would be comparable to a salad dressing.

Grill the chicken in whole pieces until well done with a nice char and slice thin for serving.

Fillings for the wraps can vary but for these we used fresh bean sprouts, thinly sliced carrots and cucumber, and green onions. It all gets wrapped up and eaten like a taco, but in place of the tortilla we use a nice leaf of butter, bibb, or romaine lettuce. Top with a splash of lime juice and a drizzle of the peanut sauce.

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings is old school classic American comfort food. There is just something about its wholesome simplicity that I find myself craving from time to time.

The base of the dish is really good chicken broth. I start this by simmering a whole organic chicken with carrots, celery, onion, parsley, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Start with cold water, just enough to cover the chicken, cover, and bring up to a simmer until the chicken is cooked through. I pull out the chicken and set aside to cool. The broth gets strained and added into a clean stock pot. Once the chicken is cooled it gets pulled into large chucks with the skin removed and set aside.

The broth is brought up to a simmer and thickened slightly with some corn starch.

Diced carrots, celery, and onions get sauteed in some butter until softened and then added into the stock pot along with the chicken.

The stock can now be brought up to a low boil in preparation for cooking the dumplings.

The dumplings are a simple recipe consisting of flour, baking soda, buttermilk, butter, and salt. I roll the dough out into about a 1/2"thickness and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. The strips are added to the boiling stock, covered, and allowed to cook for 10-12 minutes.

We garnish with a little fresh parsley and black pepper.

Now that is some good classic comfort food.

The Great Chili Cookoff

I want to thank all of my friends and family that came out to support me with their votes at the Habitat for Humanity Chili Cookoff. I won first place in the people's choice category with my "Green Monster" Chili. With trophy finally in hand, I am happy to share my recipe with everyone. CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE



My entry was a white chicken chili that was full of roasted green chilies, grilled chicken, and northern white beans.I started my chili by roasting 2 pounds of assorted poblano, anaheim, jalapeno, and serrano chilies with tomatillos. You can adjust the heat of the chili by playing around with the types, and the quantities of each of the chilis that you use. Keep in mind that using fresh chiles in a recipe is not an exact science. The heat of a particular variety of chile can vary greatly based on where, and, when it was grown, and the time of the year.
I gave them a rub with vegetable oil and roasted them in a 375 degree oven until they looked like this....

After roasting, the chilis get placed into a plastic bag to make them "sweat". The skin of the pepper and the seeds are easily removed under cold running water after only a few minutes. I then chopped the peppers and the tomatillos and set them aside in the large stock pot that the chili will be put together in.

The base of the chili started with rendering down 1/2 a pound of diced bacon in a saute pan.

The crispy bacon bits are removed from the pan and set aside to be added back to the chili later. I then added 1 diced green pepper, 1 diced onion, and 6 diced celery stalks to the hot bacon drippings. This is a traditional Cajun style base for many recipes, otherwise known as the "holy trinity" of creole cooking. There is a definite extra depth of flavor that is added to the chili by cooking the vegetables in the bacon fat. Hey, I am trying to win a chili cookoff, not count calories! The vegetables are cooked until softened and added to the stock pot with the chopped chilies.

The next step was getting the chicken ready for the chili. Several pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts were butterflied and seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. The chicken was grilled over very high heat until well done. I was looking for good color and a little charring to add extra flavor to the chili. In this step you do not have to worry about the chicken getting too dry because its going to be diced and added to the chili.

The diced cooked chicken was added to the stock pot with several cans of northern white beans that had been rinsed and drained.

With all of the ingredients in the pot it was time to finish it by adding the liquid and dairy ingredients. For this large batch I added 2 quarts of chicken stock, 1 can of salsa verde, and two cans of green enchilada sauce. You will want to taste the mixture at this point to determine if it has enough chicken flavor. Depending on where it is at I usually add some additional instant chicken stock or bouillon cubes at this point to get the flavor where I want it. I then bring this mixture up to a simmer and add some additional dried seasonings. One teaspoon each of cumin, black pepper, and garlic powder are added to the pot along with a large tablespoon of dried oregano. At this point we can re-incorporate the bacon bits that we cooked earlier and move onto the step of adding the dairy ingredients. First one softened package of cream cheese is added to the pot. It is important to have the cream cheese soft enough so that it will easily mix into our chili mixture. The final ingredients are 1 cup of heavy cream, and one cup each of shredded sharp cheddar and monterrey-jack cheeses. The pot is given a final stir to incorporate and then the chili is brought to a simmer on low heat for at least an hour for the flavors to incorporate. The chili is great served with some accompaniments such as fresh cilantro, diced onions, shredded cheese, and sour cream. Feel free to email me if you would like a more detailed ingredient list and instructions for this recipe. Thanks again to everyone that voted!

Chicken Tinga Tostadas

Chicken tinga is a traditional Mexican recipe that was taught to me by two friends that I met while living in Virginia. They loved this recipe and made it quite often since moving to the U.S. from an area near Acapulco, Mexico. This is a quick and easy recipe that delivers big authentic Mexican flavors. This recipe is made by first poaching 3-4 bone-in chicken breasts with the skin removed in chicken broth with a mixture of 1 chopped onion, 4 chopped tomatoes, garlic, and oregano.

When the chicken is cooked all the way through it is removed from the broth, shredded and set aside. The broth mixture goes into a blender with a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. The amount of chipotles you put in is up to your own personal taste. The broth mixture gets well blended and then poured into a pan.

The chicken and the chipotle sauce are combined and brought to a simmer on the stove. Once some of the liquid has evaporated and the chicken mixture has thickened it is ready to serve.

I serve chicken tinga on a warm tostada with onion, cilantro, queso fresco, sour cream, avocado, and a lime wedge. It is also equally delicious if you choose to serve it as a filling for tacos or burritos as well.

Green Curry Chicken

If you are looking for huge complex flavors in a simple to prepare dish, curries are a great place to start. Here is a taste of the green curry that I made. I used a canned green curry paste as my base and its primary ingredients are ground green chiles, shallots, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass. The heat of this dish can be altered to taste based on the amount of curry paste you wish to add. We prefer ours a little spicy so we use a ratio of 4 teaspoons of curry paste to 1 can of coconut milk.

My ingredients were sliced chicken breast, red onion, red, orange, yellow, and green bell pepper, baby eggplants, Thai eggplants, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, Thai basil, lime, green curry paste, chicken broth, and coconut milk. Perhaps the hardest to find ingredient in the list is the lime leaves but they are worth a trip to an Asian supermarket. They have an intense citrusy lime aroma that is hard to compare.

I started by simply stir frying all the vegetables in a very hot wok until they began to soften. Then a couple teaspoons of the curry paste and all the other aromatics such as lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves go into the wok. Heating the curry paste up with the vegetables will give it a chance warm up and bloom its flavor a little bit.

Next we add the chicken broth, coconut milk, basil and cilantro. Once this mixture comes to a simmer we add the sliced chicken breast allow it to poach in the liquid until it is done. The lemongrass stalks can be removed from the mixture and a fresh sprinkle of basil and cilantro can be tossed in to finish the dish. I served it with lime wedges and a fresh scoop of rice from the rice cooker.